Rubishland Front, Day 1 – House Keeping

 Well, that was a lot bloodier battle than I anticipated.  The ramifications of President for Life Idi Sanford and his military having two failed invasions of Wilhelmsland within a month and a half time frame can’t be underestimated.  Will Premier Gorbachev and the Politburo opt to replace him?  He’s making Communist look bad.  And with the Soviets currently (1985) in an arms race with America, can they afford to keep replacing the staggering losses that Rubishland keeps incurring?

 

And what will our friends in Wilhelmsland do now?  Their strategy of positioning 3 of their 4 active Brigade’s on the Rubishland border seems to have worked… at least on that front.  There’s still the issue of the Gardenstan invasion which has a bridgehead into Wilhelmsland now.  Do they shift forces to remove that pesky gnat?  Or do they trust to the one active Brigade (equipped with M-60A1’s) and a horde of reservist to oust the invaders?  Or will they launch an invasion of their own into Rubishland to finally remove that annoyance?

 

Will this recent success by Big Daddy Fish and the Gardenstan military finally remove the taint of their failed invasion attempt of 1954 in the eyes of the Soviets?  Our next installment, the Battle of Munnerstadt will decide.  Watch this space, same bat channel, who knows what bat time it will finally play out.

 

And now the results of the Rubishland invasion.  

I really thought the Rubishland forces would push the defenders back, I guess that’s why we play the game.  The dice rolling for Wilhelmsland was so uncharacteristic of my typically dice rolling, it almost felt like someone else was rolling. And sadly, for Rubishland, their dice rolls all looked like my normal dice rolls.  Also a big difference in the battle was the relative (and I would say more realistic for the time frame) ineffectiveness of the Sagger missiles.  Also, the tank fire was much more effective – it almost played out like a few training exercises I remember.

 

Rubishland crossed the border with 2 Motorized Rifle Regiments (MRR) in the lead and follow-on Tank Regiment.  The Tank Regiment was not engaged, so they’re still at 100%.  Between the 2 MRR’s started with a combined strength of 18 platoons of Tanks, and 54 Platoons of BMP’s, plus 10 platoons of Recon elements.  When I called the battle Rubishland had 1 active tank platoon, 16 active BMP platoons and 1 recon platoon.  (The Reserve forces of Wilhelmsland may be fielding a battalion or two of BMP’s to replace their M3 ½ tracks since Rubishland keeps donating vehicles.  And maybe a battalion of T-55’s to replace some of their M-4 Sherman’s as well)

 

Wilhelmsland started with 2 tank battalions, half a company of dug in infantry with Marder’s in support, and 2 TOW’s mounted on M113’s, and an advance Recon detachment, resulting in 24 tank platoons, 6 platoons of Marder’s, 6 platoons of dismounted/dug in infantry, 2 platoons of M113 TOW’s, 2 platoons of Scimitars and 2 platoons of Scorpions.  When the battle ended Wilhelmsland had 15 active tank platoons, 3 active Marder platoons, 6 active Infantry platoons,  1 active M113 TOW platoon, and platoon each of Scimitar’s and Scorpions that had left the table in good order.  With another M-60A3 battalion scheduled to arrive next turn.

 

Or for those of you who are more visual:

 

Gardentstan

	Starting #	Destroyed	Failed quality check	active
T-55	9	6	2	1
T-72	9	7	2
BMP	54	36	2	16
BRDM-2	4	4
BRDM-2 AT	4	3		1
PT-76	2	2

 

 

 

 

Wilhelmsland

	Starting #	Destroyed	Failed quality check	active
M-60A3	24	5	4	15
Marder	6	2	1	3
Infantry	6			6
M113 TOW	2	1		1
Scorpion	2		1	1
Scimitar	2		1	1

 

Hopefully the Battle of Munnerstadt won’t take too long to set up and play.

 

Take care, Spring is almost here. 

 

So much lead, so little time.